St Thomas More Catholic Academy’s once-in-a-lifetime experience in Iceland

St Thomas More Catholic Academy hit Iceland running in their whirlwind trip to experience as much of this amazing country as possible in 2.5 days!

Luxuriating in the Blue Lagoon

Relaxing In the Blue Lagoon in preparation for our marathon was mandatory. Luxuriating in the soothing mineral rich waters, whilst contemplating the ingenuity of the Icelandic people, not only to capitalise on the geothermal activity below their feet, but to transform it into renewable methanol at the adjacent Svartsengi power station. If only all geography classrooms were this luxurious!

Onwards to our accommodation at Selfoss, via the smelly fumaroles and bubbling mud puddles at Krysuvik. The welcome from our hosts was as warm as supper was substantial.

True Wilderness on the Golden Circle Tour

Our second day saw us crossing the plate boundary within the Pingvellir National Park, a UNESCO heritage site. St Thomas More Catholic Academy students loved the Oxarafoss (waterfall) as you can see!

Things were a bit up and down after that! Specifically Strokkur at Geysir was up whilst the magnificent waterfall Gullfoss was definitely falling fast and furiously into its enormous 2.5 mile gorge. It was so bitterly cold that only our intrepid geographers ventured to the viewing platform- whist all the other visitors huddled in the cafe! At least we had the true wilderness experience to ourselves.

Making Waves

The final day found us taking in the delights of the South Coast, with the tremendous waves attacking the base of the huge basalt columns ensuring we stayed high up the beach.

Unexpected delights included finding the beach covered by fish, literally thrown out of the sea. The situation was moving from epic to biblical!

Our next amazing experience included physically touching the snout of Eyjafjallajokull, realising the water melting onto our hands has been locked up in the ice for millenia. The sense of awe and wonder was almost palpable.

For many of the group the waterfalls of Seljalandsfoss and Gljufrabui provided the peak of excitement. Bloated by a surfeit of snowmelt these impressive falls were magnificent.

Soaked and homeward,  we anticipated our warm supper and a cold night seeking out those elusive Northern Lights! Sadly we had to accept that Iceland had revealed sufficient treats without the latter. We came home revisiting all these wonderful sights as we slept on the plane!